“Knock knock.” “Who’s there?” “Interrupting Cow.” “Interrupting–” “MOO.”

My cousin Jasmine often takes care of some of my younger cousins, so she purposefully keeps jokes on hand on her phone that are age-appropriate for the younger generations of our extended family. This is one of the jokes she heard or read somewhere, but it is definitely a joke that has been heard of before; I found it interesting that there was a phase of time when I was in middle school that everyone was saying this joke. It was on popsicle sticks, and bottle caps, and everywhere on the Internet. I found it interesting that she was the only person I interviewed that told a joke I’d heard before. (In fact, she told FOUR jokes I’d heard before). But that showed me how quickly popular culture jokes can spread. And even now, just a few years later, this joke is considered old for being unoriginal and too “punny.” Jasmine told this to our younger cousins, who, ranging from ages 13 to 5, had almost all also heard the joke before, not from her.